Advani finds common ground in SP-BJP

Senior BJP leader L K Advani reached out to the Samajwadi Party on Wednesday by stating that there were a lot of similarities between the ideologies of the ruling party in Uttar Pradesh and of the “Bharatiya Jana Sangh” (previous avtar of the BJP).

Inaugurating the BJP’s two-day state executive committee meeting at Chitrakoot, about 350 kilometers from here, Advani chose to find common ground between his party and the SP and refrained from criticising the Akhilesh Yadav regime in the state.

“There were a lot similarities between the thinking of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and (Ram Manohar) Lohia (the socialist ideologue)...Lohia had told the former that he had great respect for Jana Sangh’s concept of nationalism,” he said.

The BJP patriarch said the country learnt nationalism from Lohia. In the state capital, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav praised Syama Prasad Mukherjee, the founder of Jana Sangh.

Advani’s “quid pro quo” statement comes days after he was praised by Mulayam Singh. Interestingly, the BJP leader’s remarks have come against the backdrop of the state unit of the party’s agitations against deteriorating law and order situation.

Advani also differed with the state BJP president Luxmi Kant Bajpai’s remarks that the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls will be a “mahasamar” (war) for the BJP. “Polls will come...we may win ...we may lose...but we move ahead,” Advani said.

He also said the country could witness the next Lok Sabha polls in November next along with Assembly polls in some states.

Mulayam acknowledged Advani’s friendly gesture. “Good people are always praised,” he said, “Syama Prasad Mukherjee was also a great leader,” he added.

Mulayam had recently termed Advani as the “tallest leader” in the country. “Advani is the tallest leader in the country....he never tells lies,” he had said while speaking at a function here on the occasion of 103rd birth centenary of Lohia.

The SP supremo had also caused a flutter among the BJP leaders when he said Advani and other BJP leaders had told him that they wanted the SP government to “stay and do well” in the state.